Printing-press.



H. L. RUTHERFORD.

PRINTING PRESS. 7 APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 16. 19x2. RENEWED SEPT. 17. I915.

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PRINTING PRESS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 16. 1912. RENEWED SEPT. 17, 1915.

1., 1 5&56U, Patented Nov. 2, 1915.

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COLUMBIA PLANO RAPH COUWASHINOTON, n.

H. L. RUTHERFORD.

PRINTING PRESS. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 16, I912- RENEWED SEPT. 17. 1915.

Patented Nov. 2, 1915;

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UN TATb PAENT Fiiifihi.

HENRY LAVRENGE RUTHERFORD, OF. MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA.

PRINTING-PRESS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patent-ed Nov. 2, 1915.

Application filed'September 16,1912, Serial No. 720,672. Renewed September 17, 1915. Serial No. 51,287.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HENRY LAWRENCE RUTHERFORD, residing at Montreal, in the Province of Quebec, Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Printing-Presses; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, andeXact description of the, same.

This invention relates more particularly fol the cutting and printing of bags and the Heretofore it has been necessary to feed the bags or bag blanks (which have first been cut from the roll of material) to the printing-press by hand, this operation being necessarily slow, besides requiring the services of an operator to feed the bags to the press.

This invention has for an object to enable the required bag lengths or bag blanksto be first out from the roll and then printed by a unitary, automatically Working machine, thus efiecting a saving of labor and increasing the rapidity with which the work can be done.

For further comprehension of the invention and of the objects and advantages thereof reference will be had to the following description and appended claims and to the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification in which Figure 1 is a plan view of a machine embodying the invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section on the line 22 Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the cutting end of the machine, and Fig. 4 is a side elevation of th same end of the machine but looking in the opposite direction.

In the drawings the frame of the machine is indicated at 1 and may be of any suitable detail construction, having mounted upon its front end, here shown astheright hand side of the machine, the cutting means whereby the required lengths are severed from the roll, and at its rear'endthe printing means.

The roll of material is indicated at 2 being supported in a well known manner at the front end of the'machine, the material as it feeds from the roll passingaround the guide devices 3, and between the straightening roller 4 and main feed roller 5, the latter of which is driven by. suitable means hereinafter described to draw the strip from the roll. The material passes from these rolls to the cutting device which is here shown as comprising a stationary knife 7 mounted in a suitable transverse bot 8 and a rotatable knife 9 which latter is mounted in a roller 10 driven by means to be re: ferred to later.

Located at the rear end of the machine is the; printing mechanism comprising the usual printing roller 12, driven by any well known means not necessary here to be shown, and the inking rollers 13. I do not claim any novelty either for the printing mechanism on for the cutting mechanism in themselves,.my invention residing in the arrangement of the feed from the cutting device to the printing roll and-in the driving of the two devices in a manner to insure the proper co-relation therebetween.

The bag blanks are conveyed from the knife. to: the printing mechanism by means of an endless apron 14 looped at one extremity over a roller 15 located underneath theknife box 8 and reaching rearwardly and looping over a second roller 16 located under the printing roller, suitable guide rollers 17 being provided intermediate to the-rollers 15 and 16 while a bar 18 extends transversely across under the roller 10 and above the apron and serves to prevent the rear end ofthe bag length coiling around upon itself.

In. order tov maintain the proper relative speeds or synchronous movement of the press, conveying apron and cutting knife so that'theo printing will be properly positioned upon the bag blank I. have arranged the cutter and endless apron to be driven from the printing press, the cutter being driven, as here shown, by means of a sprocket chain 20looped at one end over a sprocket wheel 21 on the, spindle 12 of. the main roller 12 of the printing mechanism and at itsopposite end over a. second sprocket wheel 22 rigid on the spindle of the knife carrying roll; 10.

The conveying apron may be driven throughany suitable. operative connection as the gear 23 onrthe spindle 1:2. of the roller 12intermeshing with the pinion 24 on the spindle 16 of the roller 16. As will be, readily seen the knife always maintains a fixed position relatively to the printing device on the roller 12 and, as the speed of the apron is constant, the bag blanks will alwaysbe .in the same position with respect to the printing device when they reach the roller 12.

To enable bag blanks of different lengths to be cut and properly printed the speed of gear25 on the spindle of the knife roller 10 and driving, through an idler 26, a gear 27 on a countershaft 27 on whose opposite end is an expanding pulley 28 of well known construction, this pulley driving by a belt 29, a pulley 30 on one end of a second countershaft 31 on whose opposite end is a pinion 32 intermeshing with a gear 33 on the spindle 5 of the roller To compensate for variations of the diameter of the pulley 28 the belt 29 passes respectively over and under a pair of small pulleys34 and mounted eccentrically on a ratchet disk 36 pivoted as at 37 to the frame of the machine and held in position by a pawl 38.

The driving means of the endless apron 14 is so arranged that the rate of travel of the latter is as great as the maximum rate of feed of the material. to the knife in order to prevent any overlapping of the blanks or interference thereof with each other. WVhen the rate of travel of the material is less than that of the apron the end of the material which has dropped onto the apron maintains its regular rate of motion until severed by the knife, so that the position of the rear edge of 'the bag blank relatively to the printing device remains unvaried no matter what the variation in the rate of feed of the material and consequent length of the bag blanks. 7

It is thought that the manner of operation of my improved machine will be readily apparent from the foregoing description, it-

being noted that the feed to the printing press of the separate bag blanks is'entirely automatic, thus dispensing with the services of an operator. The printed bag blanks may be taken from the press by any suitable means not necessary here to be shown.

What I claim is as follows:

1. In a machine of the class specified, the combination with printing mechanism in cluding a printing roller and an impression roller located beneath the printing roller, of a cutting device including a stationary knife, a roller located on the side of the stationary knife opposite to the printing roller and an endless apron looped at one extremity over the last mentioned roller and reaching rearwardly and being looped over the impression roller.

2. In a machine of the class specified, the combination with printing mechanism ineluding a printing roller, a gear Wheelcarried by the roller, a sprocket wheel carried by such roller at one end, an impression roller and a gear wheel carried by the impression roller and meshing with the gear wheel carried by the printing roller, of a cutting device including a knife-box and aknife carrying roll, a sprocket wheel upon the knife carrying roll, a chain looped over the sprocket wheels, a roller located beneath said knife box and an endless apron looped at one extremity over the roller underneath the knife box and reaching rearwardly and being looped over the impression roller..

3. In a machine of the class specified, the combination with printing mechanism including a print-ing roller, a gear wheel carried by the roller, a sprocket wheel carried by such roller at one end, an impression roller and a gear wheel carried by the im pression roller and meshing with the gear wheel carried by the printing roller, of a cutting device including a knife box and a knife carrying roll, a sprocket wheel upon the knife carrying roll, a. chain looped over the sprocket wheels, a roller located beneath said knife box, an endless apron looped at one extremity over the roller underneath the knife box and reaching rearwardly and being looped over the impression roller, :1 bar beneath the knife roll, transversely of and spaced above the endless apron and guide rollers above and below said endless apron.

a. In a machine of the class specified, the combination with printing mechanism including a printing roller, of a cutting device arranged at a fixed distance in advance of the printing mechanism and including a knife carrying roll and an endless apron having one end located adjacent the said cutting device and extending toward the printing mechanism, and means whereby the said cutting device and endless apron are driven from the printing mechanism, including a sprocket chain looped over sprocket wheels mounted respectively on said printing roller and knife carrying roll.

5. In a machine of the class specified, the combination with printing mechanism, of a cutter arranged in advance of the printing mechanism, a conveyer having one end located under the said cutter and extending toward the said printing mechanism, a bar extending transversely above and spaced from the conveyer beneath the cutter, a guide roll below the level of and at the rear of the bar, in contact with the top of the apron and adapted to maintain the space between the latter and the bar.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HENRY LAWRENCE RUTHERFORD.

Witnesses:

ALEX CURRIE, JAMES A. GRASER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Iatents. Washington, D. 0. 

